Fiber optic cables are deployed across long distances (e.g., many miles of ocean) to establish communication networks. Because these fiber optic cables cannot be made and deployed in infinite length, sections of the cables must be attached together to extend across large distances. Cable joints are used to connect the tails of fiber optic cables together, for example, when splicing the optical fibers within the cables.
Undersea fiber optic cable connecting joints are designed to transfer tension and torque between the strength members of the two cable tails being connected and to provide electrical continuity between the power conductors of the two cable tails. Cable connecting joints also provide optical continuity between the fiber optics of the two cable tails and provide storage of a length of the spliced fibers and the related splice splints. Undersea fiber optic cable joints can also be designed to perform these functions while withstanding cable installation and environmental conditions. For example, the connecting joints should withstand cable tensions, torques, shock and vibration associated with cable handling, deployment and recovery. The undersea connecting joints may also be designed to withstand hydrostatic pressures associated with deep-sea deployment, the corrosive salt-water environment, and the temperature fluctuations associated with manufacture, storage, installation and operation.
A typical undersea cable connecting joint includes a single fiber splice tray centered axially with the cable. The optical fibers are typically coiled on one side of this tray and the splice splints are mechanically held in place on this tray. One example of this type of Millennia Joint (MJ). Multiple tray cable connecting joints have only recently been developed for undersea fiber optic cable, although such connecting joints have existed in the terrestrial telecommunications industry for years. One example of an undersea multiple tray cable connecting joint is the URC-1 192 fiber joint box available from Alcatel Submarine Networks. In this type of multiple tray cable connecting joint, the trays are stacked against each other and the optical fiber can be loaded onto only one tray at a time.
Accordingly, there is a need for a multiple tray cable connecting joint that allows multiple trays to be loaded simultaneously from each side of the joint to facilitate the fiber splicing and coiling operation.